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After most of the population of the Pacific rim sought higher ground this week, we speak with the architect of the tsunami warning technology. Also how aging Killifish might help us probe our senior moments.
This week, an M8.8 earthquake near Kamchatka in the western pacific led to tsunami evacuation alerts thousands of miles away. Seismologist Judith Hubbard was writing about the area in the days leading up to it, following a M7.4 event 9 days before, which we now know to categorize as a foreshock. As she says, it’s these subduction zones between tectonic plates that give out the most energy, produce the biggest quakes, leading to the worst tsunamis. The Tsunami alarms were based on modelling developed by Vasily Titov of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. Having studied these phenomena for many decades, he describes the fine balance between the potential accuracy of a prediction, and the practical actionable advice authorities need to give out to save as many lives as possible.
Finally, how can a short-lived African freshwater fish help scientists studying senescence? Stanford’s Judith Frydman and colleagues publish this week a study in Science that finds Killifish’s brain cells’ ability to encode proteins degrades with age, in keeping with similar patterns of older human brains. Because Killifish have such brief life cycles, yet seem to follow the brain cycles of most vertebrates, they provide an ideal model species from which to find out more, as she explains.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Imaan Moin and Alex Mansfield Production Coordinator: Jana Holesworth
(Image Credit: Vasily Titov PMEL/NOAA)
What comes to mind when you imagine the future of humanity? Could a computer make your mind more efficient? Enhance your cognition? Or cure a disorder you've been grappling with all your life? CrowdScience listener Mariana from Mexico hopes that one day technology will be able to help improve our brains.
Presenter Alex Lathbridge seeks out some of these brain boosters, exploring emerging technologies in deep brain stimulation at City St George’s University of London in the UK. Professor Francesca Morgante and Dr Lucia Ricciard explain how they’re using technology to treat Parkinson’s.
And could brain technology help with even the most enigmatic elements of our minds? Dr Robert Hampson at Wake Forest University in the USA takes us through his research in restoring memory impairment.
Along the way we interrogate the ethical implications of the breakneck speed of progress in brain augmentation research with researcher Anders Sandberg from the Institute of Future Studies in Sweden.
Presenter: Alex Lathbridge Producer: Emily Bird Series Producer: Ben Motley
The epic space story of a sci-fi dream that changed spaceflight forever. Told by the Nasa astronauts and team who made it happen. Our multi-award-winning podcast is back, hosted by space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. She tells the story of triumph and tragedy - of a dream that revolutionised modern space travel forever.
You can listen to the trailer here. To hear episodes, search for 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music. Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office.
The epic space story of a sci-fi dream that changed spaceflight forever. Told by the Nasa astronauts and team who made it happen. Our multi-award-winning podcast is back, hosted by space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. She tells the story of triumph and tragedy - of a dream that revolutionised modern space travel forever.
You can listen to the trailer here. To hear episodes, search for 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music. Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office.
This week, Cameroon’s Paul Biya announced his plan to run for an 8th term as president at the grand old age of 92. So, we have elected to investigate the science of ageing.
First, we ask if a 60-year-old brain is as sharp as a 20-year-old one. Then, we find out about parts of the world that boast impressively long life expectancies. Have these places found the secret to longevity, or are they not what they seem?
Next up, we talk to Professor Thomas Boothby from the University of Wyoming about tiny, eight-legged animals called tardigrades, and what they could teach us about living longer.
We also dig into the story behind a recently uncovered ancient Peruvian city, before finding out the science behind so-called ‘old wives’ tales’.
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Phillys Mwatee Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Lucy Davies and Robbie Wojciechowski